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Judith
Judith was a 7th century BC Jewish widow from the town of Bethulia who saved Judah from an Assyrian invasion in 650 BC when she beheaded the Assyrian general Holofernes at his camp and defeated the Assyrian siege of Bethulia. She was said to have lived to the age of 105, having never remarried, but she had become famous across Judah as the savior of Israel. Biography Judith was born in Bethulia, Judah, the daughter of Merari and a member of the tribe of Simeon. She was married to the fellow Simeonite Manasseh, a harvest overseer who died of sunstroke during the barley harvest in 653 BC; Judith inherited his gold and silver, slaves, cattle, and fields. In mourning for her husband, she fasted every day of the week except for the day before the sabbath and the sabbath itself. She became known as a God-fearing woman whose devotion and piety inspired the town's elders, and, in 650 BC, during the Assyrian siege of Bethulia, she criticized the town's chief elder Uzziah ben Micah for agreeing to surrender to the Assyrians in five days due to the city's thirst. Judith said that this act was testing God and giving God's power to humans, and she promised that she would embark on a secret mission to make the Assyrians withdraw; the elders, agreeing to not pry into her plans, let her and her servant leave the town at night. Beheading Holofernes ]]Judith and her servant were accosted by an Assyrian patrol, but, when she said that she was going to deliver important strategic information to Holofernes, the soldiers - awed by her beauty and her apparent decision to defect - gave her a 100-man escort and sent her to Holofernes. When she arrived at Holofernes' tent, she weaved a fake story about her reasons for defecting, and promised to deliver the critical information to Holofernes. Holofernes - also captivated by her beauty - let her stay in his tent, and she stayed there for four days, being permitted to leave in order to pray. On the fourth day, Holofernes attempted to get her drunk in order to rape her, but it was Holofernes who drank excessively and passed out on his bed. Judith took his sword from the mantle above his bed and twice hacked at his head until it was severed, upon which her servant put his head in Judith's food pouch. The two of them then returned to Bethuliah, where Judith had the elders mount the head on the town's parapet. The next day, the Assyrian defector Achior was shocked to see his former general's head, and he converted to Judaism, praising God for delivering a miraculous victory to the Israelites. TheAssyrian army became demoralized, and the Judeans launched a counterattack, routing the Assyrian army. Judith was allowed to keep the spoils of war, including Holofernes' tent. However, when she went to Jerusalem to give thanks to God, she left her spoils as offerings to him, and she returned home. She never remarried, despite being beautiful and having many suitors, and she was said to have died at the age of 105, having become famous as the savior of Israel. Category:Judeans Category:Jews Category:Judean spies Category:Spies Category:Biblical figures